Atrax is a genus of venomous Australian funnel web spiders that was first described by O. Pickard-Cambridge in 1877 from the type species Atrax robustus.[3][4] As of May 2019[update] it contains only three species: A. robustus, A. sutherlandi, and A. yorkmainorum.[1] Originally placed with the curtain web spiders, it was moved to the Hexathelidae in 1980,[5] then to the Australian funnel-web spiders in 2018.[6]
Phylogeography can be understood as the historical changes or occurrences that bring about a change to a specific species or organism. After extensive studies, researches have found that there are many geographical and genetic differences that have occurred due to micro-habitat distributions. The assumption has been made that the species of Atrax have experienced a shift in genetic structure due to the niches that they inhabit. Habitats are not the only factor to this divergence; researchers have also noted the climatic events, prey availability, and natural occurrence of biodiversity.[7]